Are you trying to find out whether your cat speaks English? Or did you buy a British or American cat that won't come when it's called in Russian? My advice is, forget language altogether. Just open a can of cat food. Your cat will come.
–
RobustoMar 20 '11 at 15:10

1

You are right, I've got a British cat and I want to speak to it in its language :) But I'm really interested in how you call up cats.
–
Edwin RossMar 20 '11 at 15:13

I usually call a cat by its name. I know what you are going to ask: and if you didn't give a name to the cat?
–
kiamlalunoMar 20 '11 at 15:39

2

I think you are wasting your time. The cat will come as soon as it pleases, and not before.
–
Brian HooperMar 20 '11 at 18:44

5 Answers
5

There’s another way that’s fairly common (at least in parts of the UK): a sound made by sucking in air through pursed lips. I don’t know of any common name for it, though, or way to transcribe it in writing. I’ve also heard it used, more rarely, to attract small birds (in the wild).
–
PLLMar 20 '11 at 16:03

Thank you Callithumpian and PLL, it is really interesting.
–
Edwin RossMar 20 '11 at 16:07

@PLL Is it a kind of whistling sound? (As a somewhat random point of reference, when I learn to whistle as child (as in "whistle a tune"), I first learned to do so by sucking in air as opposed to blowing it out.) But it is very easy to produce bird-like sounds this way.
–
jbelacquaMar 20 '11 at 19:28

(reprise...) I know at least one person who attracts his cat by making the sound we generally write as tsk-tsk or tut-tut. That's the clicking sound made by pressing tip of tongue to roof of mouth, then releasing it sharply to draw air inwards (again, with throat closed). Drifting slightly off-topic, I've long been fascinated by the corresponding "non-vocalised" sound made using the side of the tongue, which has particularly strong associations with horses (i.e. - it means "giddy-up, horse!")

In keeping with @Robusto's comment on opening a can of cat food, the most reliable way to get our recalcitrant kitteh to return to the house is to say the cat's name (or a familiar diminutive thereof), followed with "cheese!" in a high-pitched voice. Kitties seem to love high-pitched voices mentioning food. The "cheese" vocalization is in fact an offer of food -- sometimes literally a tiny piece of cheese, sometimes actual "cat food". Imagine a trained dolphin receiving a fish after performing a trick, and you will have imagined a situation which is not completely unlike this one.
This trick also works for our other cat who was not brought up with cheese as either an offer or a reward. I think it's the high-pitched voice, with the likely reward of food that does it.

Whilst it's not uncommon, I think here kitty kitty is a bit twee & self-concious. The most common sound I hear people making is a sort of "squeak" produced by placing the bottom teeth loosely against top lip and drawing air inwards across the gap by moving the tongue backwards (with throat closed). I know at least a couple of people who call this non-vocalised sound a "tweet".